Charging small diameter drums (<60 mm) has long been accomplished using contact charging methods, mostly bias charging rolls, due to their small size and ease of manufacture. The major disadvantage of charge roll technology is the need for high AC voltages (for uniform charging) that generate reactants which rapidly degrade the photoreceptor transport layer causing physical wearing of the surface. This wear limits the useable life of the photoreceptor device which drives system run costs up, especially in color systems that might have four photoreceptor devices. Non-contacting scorotrons operating at high DC voltage (5-9 kV) provide a alternative method to overcome wear issues, but have the downfall of generating ozone and NOx, and must be relatively large in size to overcome arcing issues between the coronode and surrounding device elements (that is, grids and shields).
Thus, there is a need for the present invention.